The UBC Music Colloquium Series is an academic forum hosted by the UBC School of Music, featuring presentations by faculty members and invited scholars on a wide range of musicological subjects, encompassing historical inquiry, theoretical analysis, and critical discourse.
This week
Dr. Nancy Yunhwa Rao
(Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Music,Rutgers University )
A Print of Chinese Theater in California: A Life History, Connection to Global Music History and Beyond
ABSTRACT
What is the story behind an engraved illustration of a glamorous Chinese theater in San Francisco from 1870? Published in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, the object gives rise to a series of questions. Who fashioned it? For whom was it intended? What kind of reaction did it elicit? What were its uses? How did it function as a social actor? What does it tell us about the four Chinese theaters in San Francisco between 1868 and 1879, as well as those in the nearby mining towns? What does it tell us about the global music history? What does it tell us about eh Cantonese Pacific? This talk looks at the engraving as an object, placing it in multiple contexts, exploring its history, connection to mid-19th century migration pattern, and linking it to sources old and new, such as news reports, digitization efforts, and museum exhibitions.
BIO
Nancy Yunhwa Rao is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Music, Rutgers University. Her work bridges music theory, musicology, and Sinophone studies. She is the author of Chinatown Opera Theater in North America (2017), which received three book awards (AMS, SAM, AAAS) and was translated to Chinese, and Inside Chinese theater: Community and Artistry in 19 century California and Beyond (2025). Her music theory publication explores materiality, gestures, and percussion patterns of Beijing opera in contemporary Chinese music. Rao is the editor of the journal, American Music. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
